


A Small Glitch

by Robbotish



Category: Watch Dogs (Video Game)
Genre: Macro/Micro, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-01
Updated: 2014-09-16
Packaged: 2018-02-11 07:06:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2058642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Robbotish/pseuds/Robbotish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Aiden has small accident.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if I'll expand this.  
> It was a late night ramble cause I was bored. But if people are actually interested I'll be happy to work some more on it.
> 
> Based on this commission I did for Filiasan on DA:  
> http://blacklight29.deviantart.com/art/Aiden-for-Filisan-460255485

Aiden smiled quietly to himself as he flicked the last breaker. He could hear the faint sounds of power returning to the abandoned island.

He swung himself around onto the fire escape and headed down the side of the building. He couldn't wait to see the look on Clara's face! Aiden was scooting down the fire escape as quickly as he could, he probably should've been more careful.

He placed his hand on one of the old railings and it gave way, he lurched forward and his hand jammed right into a fuse-box. He shouted as the current tore through him, throwing him backwards. He blacked out.

***

Clara was already in the bunker. She reviled in the sounds the servers made as the legendary place whirred back to life. Aiden should have been there by now, she wondered what was keeping him. She pulled out her phone and tapped his number.

***

Aiden was dimly aware of a buzzing sound coming from somewhere to his right. His whole body still itched from the jolt,  but it was his head that was bothering him the most. It felt like someone with a jackhammer was trying to escape from behind his eyes. He put a hand to the back of his head,

"huh?" his hat must've fallen off when he blacked out. He ran his hand through his short, dark hair until he came to the tender spot. He hissed in pain and pulled his hand away. "shit, if I have a concussion I'm screwed."

He managed to haul himself to his feet, his whole body trying to tell him it was a bad idea. He automatically shoved his hand into his pocket feeling around for his phone. It wasn't there.

"Crap, where's it gone?!" he spun around checking to see if it had fallen from his pocket. He stopped dead, his eyes widened as he caught sight of something. His hat lay about 20 feet away, except it was now taller than he was! He stared at it, slowly walking over. Was he tripping? He placed his hands on the black canvas, it was rough beneath his fingers.

Aiden jumped as a loud buzzing sound erupted behind him. Spinning around he saw his phone lying on the ground. Someone was trying to call him. He ran over to it, saw that it was Clara and slammed his hand down on the screen to pick up.

"Aiden? Aiden where are you?" Clara sounded quite happy, too bad the volume of her voice made Aiden wince.

"Clara, I need some help, I'm somewhere by the train tracks and-" She cut him off.

"What do you mean you need help? You get stuck on the roof?"

Aiden fumed. "just, get here as fast as you can. And watch where you step."

***

Clara hung up and looked at her phone. Something had sounded off, why was he talking so quietly? She sighed and pushed herself up from the desk.

"Well, better see what he needs." she left the bunker. Clara wondered what Aiden had meant by 'watch where you step'." She looked around for anything that might have given him reason to say such a thing.

Her eyes fell on his hat.

***

Aiden had seated himself on top of his phone, the soft glow from the screen giving little comfort as he tried to figure out what had happened to him. Nothing, just a big blank. He flopped back onto the screen and shut his eyes. Maybe he _was_ tripping. He'd wake up somewhere without knowing how he got there and just get on with his work.

He was torn away from these thoughts as the ground shook. He sat bolt upright as a shadow fell over him.

It was Clara. He forgot to be relieved to see her when the sheer scale of his situation presented itself. She'd bent down and picked up his hat.

"Tch. Now Aiden, where have you gone?" She turned her head and looked straight at him. Her eyebrows shot up and he wanted to hide. He might've just done that had Clara not used his hat to scoop him off the ground.

Aiden swore as he was knocked off balance, scrabbling around for purchase on the rough fabric. When the movement finally stopped, he was sprawled out in the bottom of the hat. He looked up at Clara, unable to find any words.

She found them for him. "Shit Aiden!"

Her voice vibrated through his whole body and he flinched. He opened his mouth to say something, but his brain finally decided it had had enough.

***

"Aiden!" Clara shouted as Aiden went limp in the hat. She picked up his phone and ran back to the bunker. Once they were inside she carefully tipped Aiden out onto the desk. He landed face down so Clara turned him over with her fingertip.

He grunted as he was laid out on his back. Opening his eyes, there was light but it wasn't sunlight. He sat up his eyes quickly adjusting to the artificial light of the bunker.

Aiden's mouth went dry when he realised Clara was watching him. Her face seemed so far away, and yet way too close. He shakily got to his feet. He didn't know how to address the situation, so instead he said:

"So, this is the bunker?" He was looking everywhere he could to distract himself from her giant presence hovering over him. However Clara had noticed a darker patch on the back of his head. She slipped her fingers around him and brought him closer to her face.

Aiden panicked as his feet left the ground. He gripped Clara's topmost finger and writhed to get free.

"Stop wriggling. I don't want to drop you."

_'Drop?'_ Aiden looked down and stopped moving at once. Jeez that was a long way down! He wanted to be back on the desk. Hell, he wanted to be his own height again!

Now that Aiden had stopped moving, Clara was able to get a good look at the back of his head. She was worried that the darker patch had been blood, but now she saw it properly she realised it was from his hat. Parts of his hair hadn't seen the sun for so long they'd gone darker. She laughed and Aiden felt it tremble through his ribcage.

He heard a phone buzz. Was that his? He turned his head to look at Clara. She put him down on the desk and set his phone next to him. Shit, it was Jordi. Aiden accepted the call, and Clara went off somewhere seeing as Aiden couldn't move his phone.

"What is it Jordi?" Aiden was tired, mentally and physically.

Jordi's voice, as always was oddly chipper, and to Aiden, extremely loud.  
 "Jeez man. What's got you so down? Hooker run away with your pants?" Aiden didn't even have it in him to roll his eyes.

"Jordi, what is it? Are you sure it can't wait?"

"Okay, seriously. What's wrong with you? Usually you're at least vaguely interested in what I have to say?"

Aiden sat on the edge of his phone and rubbed his temples. "Sorry Jordi," His voice had a slightly snappish  edge to it. "Right now I have a _small_ problem I need to see to before I can deal with anything you have for me."

"Wow, someone's upset. Tell you what, meet you at that flat we visited a few days back, we'll have dinner and you can unburden yourself to me. A true heat to heart." There was a sarcastic edge to his tone. "But seriously, we need to talk."

"Alright, fine." And Aiden hung up.

Then he realised what he'd just done. How would he even get there? Was it even safe to see Jordi given his current state? The man was a fixer after all, he could wipe him out with the heel of his boot!

Aiden sat there thinking. His eyes darting to the wall of screens every now and then. He looked over his shoulder as he heard the click of boots on the concrete floor. Clara was coming back over, she had a cup in each hand.

"you were looking more tired than usual, so I got coffee." She set both cups down on the desk. "I guess I forgot about you being so..." She held up her hand, indicating his current size with her thumb and index-finger.

"Shit, am I really only that big?" By what Clara had indicated, he was barely five inches tall. This reminder of his stature made what he was about to ask seem even more insane than it had a few seconds ago. He ran his hand through his hair, wincing as he touched the tender spot.

"Clara, I need you to do something for me."

***

"Oh no! I am **not** taking you outside, and I am certainly not leaving you on the goddamed sidewalk!" Clara was almost shouting at Aiden. He'd covered his ears in an attempt to escape the sheer volume, but her words still rang loud and clear. She slammed her hands down on the desk and he skittered away from her. She watched him, "See?! That's exactly my point. Right now everything out there is a threat to you, even more so than usual."

Aiden's heat fluttered against his ribs. Clara had a point, but he couldn't stop his work just because of some freak accident.

"Clara, look I know it's a bad idea. But I still need you to do it."

Clara stared at him. "you're insane." but she nodded.

***

For Aiden the trip to the flat was less than comfortable. Clara had tucked him into her jacket pocket, which swayed and jostled Aiden with each step she took. He was starting to think this was a really bad idea, but he'd convinced Clara to go along with it, so he had to stick to it too.

He could hear the sounds of the city around him. People laughing, shouting, cars and trains shuddering along. He hadn't seen the city from his new perspective yet, would he pass out again from the scale of it all? Aiden managed to poke his head out of Clara's pocket, only to have her notice and shove him back down.

"Stay still, what if you fell out?"

Aiden muttered something rude, but Clara didn't hear him.

A few minutes later Clara had made it round the back of the building where Aiden was meant to meet Jordi. She snooped around until she came across an air-vent. She pulled Aiden out of her pocket and set him down by the vent. She handed something to him.

"That's a microphone bug, it's been modified to have a two-way receiver." Aiden held the device, it was small enough to fit in his pocket and at least now he had backup should anything go wrong.

He nodded his thanks and slipped through the air-vent. It was a tight fit getting through the grill, but on the other side it opened out into a huge metal corridor. Out of habit, he pulled his scarf up over his face and made his way through the vents.

Aiden kept walking until he heard voices. He found another grill and peered through it, looking down he saw the top of Jordi's head. Aiden frowned, the idea that had come to him was just as bad, if not worse than his last one. But he did it anyway.

He squeezed out of the vent and dangled above Jordi. Once he was sure he wouldn't miss, he let go, falling straight down the back of Jordi's shirt. He would've kept falling if the man hadn't tucked his shirt into his pants.

****

Jordi flinched when he felt something fall down the back of his shirt. "Huh? Probably just a bug, I'll deal with it later."

He stepped into the elevator, a bag of take out noodles swung at his side. He gently bobbed his head in time to the crappy music coming from the elevator's speakers. "Ugh, they really need to update their music."

The elevator pinged and Jordi got out. He strolled down the corridor to the flat he'd managed to acquire. He dumped the take-out on the table and pulled of his jacket.

"Right, let's see what we've got." He un-tucked the back of his shirt and felt around for whatever had fallen down it.

***

Aiden hadn't moved since falling down Jordi's shirt, but when he felt the fabric moving he knew he'd have to grab something or he'd be sent plummeting to the floor. As he slipped out of the fabric he caught hold of Jordi's belt. Great now what was he supposed to do?

His question was quickly answered as Jordi's hand closed around him. The man's grip was a bit tight and Aiden found himself struggling for air.

***

Jordi brought his hand round to his front. Whatever had been down his shirt was far larger than he thought it would be. He could feel it wriggling against his palm.  He uncurled his fingers and stared, dumbfounded at what he held.

Aiden, small and gasping for air. Jordi looked down at him, his face unusually blank. Then he grinned as he remembered what Aiden had said on the phone.

 

"This is not what I expected when you said 'small problem'"


	2. Chapter 2

Aiden had to cover his ears at the volume of Jordi's voice. He was dumped rather unceremoniously on the table. Jordi sat down across from him watching the tiny hacker with interest. Aiden got to his feet and yanked the scarf down off his face.

"Jeez Jordi, you couldn't just put me down gently? And you're taking this unusually well - UGH!"

Jordi had reached over and poked Aiden in the gut making the little man crumple forwards, the wind knocked out of him. "Guess I'm too shocked to freak out."

Aiden glared up at him and raised a one fingered salute.

Jordi smirked at the little glare. "Now Aiden, no need to be like that." Aiden raised his other hand too, then got back to his feet.

"What do you want Jordi?" Aiden snapped, clutching his middle.

Jordi reached over Aiden and grabbed the bag he'd dumped earlier, pulling out one of the boxes of noodles. He leaned back in the chair and started poking around in the box with his chopsticks.

"Well I had a lead for you, but I think it'd be better not to tell you given your current state. Speaking of which, how did you even get here?"

Aiden wasn't going to tell him about the ride in Clara's pocket, he didn't want to be any more humiliated than he already was.

"That really doesn't matter." He paced on the table-top. "Jordi, what did you find out?"

"Nup." Jordi spoke around a mouthful of food. "Not telling you till you're taller. If you die, I don't get paid." He waved his chopsticks at Aiden. "How'd you get like that anyway?"

Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know how I got like this. I know what happened before, but that shouldn't have caused something this impossible." He really wanted to be back in the bunker with Clara. He wasn't nervous about her killing him and at least she was gentle. Jordi was unpredictable and it worried Aiden that he'd taken this whole thing so well.

***

Jordi watched Aiden pacing around the table, fascinated by the tiny movements. He could see the man was tired and on edge, and he didn't blame him.  He watched Aiden a while longer. He had been offered a decent sum of money to take out the hacker, but looking at him like this, it just didn't seem fair. That and he'd get more money from Aiden in the long run.

But that didn't mean he couldn't torment him in the meantime.

Jordi finished his noodles and looked into the empty box.  He stood and put the box upside down over Aiden, who swore loudly.

***

Adien had still been pacing around the table when Jordi trapped him in the box. He swore at the man and started trying to tip the box off him. He could just make out something moving outside the box, but didn't know what was happening.

The table shook slightly and Aiden guessed Jordi had stood up. He could feel his footsteps, not to mention hear them. He shoved at the box again but it didn't budge, Jordi must have put something on top. Otherwise it should've been pretty easy to tip the paper box over.

Aiden rummaged through his pocket and pulled out the makeshift comm. Clara had given him. He fiddled with if for a second, then got it to work.

"Clara? Please tell me this is working?" He kept and ear out for Jordi. He didn't know what the man was doing, but he didn't want to find out either.

***

Clara had seated herself at a small coffee house in view of the building she'd left Aiden in. She didn't want to be too far away should he need help.

She had a cup of coffee halfway to her lips when her phone buzzed.

"Aiden?" She put the cup down. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. You were right about this being a bad idea though. I'll meet you round the back where you left me, I might take a while."

Clara was a bit confused but she agreed. She finished her coffee and headed round the back of the apartment block.

***

Aiden shoved the bug back into his pocket. He needed a way out.

He shoved experimentally at the box again and heard something wobble above him. He gave a small smile. At least Jordi had done a shoddy job for once. Aiden paused, was that a shower running?

"Christ Jordi..." Oh well, it had given him a chance to escape.

Aiden didn't even bother to keep the noise down. He threw his whole weight at the paper wall. He was rewarded for his efforts as the box tipped. Not all the way over, but enough to dislodge whatever had been sitting on top. He gave the box another shove and it fell easily. He ran to the edge of the table and noticed another disadvantage about being five inches tall.

It was a long way from where he stood to the ground below. He walked around the edge of the table til he came to the chair Jordi had been sitting in. It wasn't _too_ far away, could he make it? Aiden was hyper aware of the sounds coming from the bathroom and knew he didn't have long. He backed away from the edge and took a running leap off the table.

He almost missed the chair, his hands just managed to grasp the edge to stop him from killing himself on the floor. His shoulders got a horrible jolt and he knew his grip wouldn't last. Aiden felt his hand slipping and braced for what he knew would happen next. It didn't help. He lost his grip and fell to the floor. It wasn't as bad as falling off the table would've been, but the landing still hurt.

He lay on the floor in a crumpled pile, until he forced himself to move. He had to get to Clara. Had to get away from whatever Jordi was planning. He pulled himself to his feet and ran for the door.

There was absolutely no way he could reach the doorknob, let alone the little chain above it, so he didn't even bother. He looked to the gap between door and floor. Could he fit through it? Was he small enough? He'd have to give it a shot, he didn't see any other way out.

Aiden lay flat on the floor and stated to crawl under the door. It was a tight fit. If he'd been any bigger he wouldn't have had a chance. He froze as he heard Jordi come out of the bathroom.

"Where'd you go Aiden?" Jordi's voice shuddered through Aiden, spurring him to keep moving.

He wriggled his was out from under the door into the hallway. He didn't stop, he ran down the hall, keeping to the edge near the wall. Aiden came to a stop outside the elevator.

"Shit," He panted. "Now what?"

He looked around for any way of  getting the doors open, but it seemed pretty pointless. But then Aiden saw something behind the potted-plant by the lift. He ran over and couldn't believe his luck. There was a vent set into the wall, the plant had been put there to hide it. He squeezed himself through the grill and ran along the metal hall. He should've checked his footing.

The duct opened up beneath him and he fell.

***

Clara was leaning against the wall next to the vent Aiden had disappeared into. She tapped at the screen on her phone. The crappy game beeped and tweeted in response. She closed the app. and looked down at the grill. Where was he?

She heard a soft thump from the next grill down and walked over to it. Kneeling she peered through the slats. What she saw sent her into a small panic. The tiny heap lying on the metal floor could only be Aiden.

Clara slipped her fingers through the slats and pulled the grill out of place. She stuck her hand into the vent and felt around for Aiden's small form. He fingers brushed the end of his coat. Any further away and she wouldn't have been able to reach him.

She tugged at his coat until she was able to wrap her fingers around him properly. Clara pulled him clear of the vent and checked him over. He was shivering, eyes squeezed shut. She could feel his tiny ragged breaths against her palm.

Clara nudged him with her finger and he hissed in pain. The relief she'd felt at finding him vanished at how injured he was. She closed her fingers around him again and put her hand in her pocket.

 She made her way to the train station as fast as she could. Highly aware of the trembling body in her hand. The wait for the train seemed to take forever, Clara didn't have that time. She needed to get Aiden back to the bunker, back where he was safe.

***

Aiden twitched in Clara's hand. He didn't know where he was. His whole body ached and he felt cold. He shivered as pain overcame him and he slipped into blackness.

_~Aiden was running. The streets were dark and littered with rubbish. He hid behind a pillar, he could hear the robots sweeping the area for him. They were getting closer._

_Move. He needed to move. Now! He dived to the next pillar and ran from there to one of the underground car-parks, shutting the door behind him. He was safe, for now. He turned and received a metal fist straight to the sternum._

_He hit the ground, gasping for breath. A bright red light flashed in his eyes and his head swam. He blinked away the red streaks that had seared into his vision. He looked at the robot in question. It towered above him, it's single, red eye staring unblinking down at him. It raised its foot, and Aiden shrieked. ~_

Aiden shouted and sat bolt upright, a cold sweat clinging to his skin. Slowly, he became aware of his surroundings. The surface he had been lying on was soft, and somehow his coat had been taken off and draped over him. There was light coming from a semicircular opening. He crawled towards it, his body protesting at every movement he made.

As he crawled out into the light he realised where he was. He was back in the bunker. The soft surface beneath him was one of the worn out mattresses that had been lying in the corner.

***

Clara was worried. She'd taken him out of her pocket as soon as she got to the bunker and was frightened to see he'd passed out again. His face was screwed up in pain and he twitched when she tried to wake him. Nothing. Just a small noise and he curled up in her palm.

There was nothing she could really do for him, so she tried to make him comfortable. Clara took him over to one of the old mattresses next to some of the quieter computer servers. She fiddled with the tiny clasp on his coat and managed to get it open. Laying him down on the mattress, she placed his coat over him. Aiden buried his face in the mattress. Clara fetched his hat and put it over him to keep out some of the light.

***

Aiden was sitting on the mattress. He really didn't feel like moving even though he was fully awake. Suddenly he was painfully aware of a cramp in his gut. He was starving, how long had he been out?

He looked over to the desk, Clara wasn't there. Despite his pain he dragged himself forward to the edge of the mattress and let himself flop off the side. He got up and limped towards the desk.

***

Clara had gone out to get some supplies to keep in the bunker. She put them in one of the small rooms off the main hall and went to check on Aiden. He'd been unconscious for two full days and she was starting to get seriously worried.

She knelt down and lifted the edge of his hat. He wasn't there. Clara froze for a moment. If he wasn't there than he must be on the floor somewhere! What if she'd killed him by not looking where she'd been walking?!

Clara stood, scanning the floor to see if Aiden was anywhere in sight. What was that by the chair?

***

Aiden had managed to get himself to the chair, but had quickly realised he couldn't really do much else. He leaned against the chair-leg. HIs body ached yet he couldn't feel any broken bones. After a fall like that he should've been dead. He closed his eyes and listened to the servers that filled the building. All those artificial eyes, watching everyone. But not here. Not in the bunker, the ctOS blind spot.

He just sat there, resting, the flicker from the wall of monitors making odd shapes behind his eyelids. When was the last time he just stopped and allowed himself a break from the chaos that had become his life? He shook his head. He couldn't entertain thoughts like that, he had to find out why his niece had died.

Aiden opened his eyes when he heard the clicking of boots on the cold concrete floor. He looked up from his seat next to the chair-leg and saw Clara coming down the stairs with an armful of supplies.

He thought about calling out to her as she looked under his hat to find him gone, but he knew his voice wouldn't carry. And the bug she'd given him was still in his coat pocket on top of the mattress. Aiden saw the look of concern cross her face as she looked around the floor. As her eyes swept over him he gave her a wave.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short quiet chapter for now.

Clara dashed over to him, concern plain on her face. While Aiden was glad to see her, when she rushed towards him his heart skipped and he tried to run. Her footsteps made the ground tremble and even crouched she loomed over him.

Aiden moved faster than he thought he could given the battering he'd gone through. He skittered under the desk and behind one of the  server-crates. He knew he shouldn't be running from Clara, but he just wasn't ready for her to come up so quickly. He leaned against the warm servers, calming his breathing.

***

Clara was happy to see she hadn't accidentally killed him, but the fact he'd gotten so far with his injuries concerned her. She knew he tended to push himself, but she'd expected him to at least take it easy for a little while.

She walked over to him, though apparently she'd moved up to him too fast. Aiden ran away to the other side of the desk, it looked like quite an effort. She crouched and looked to where he'd gone.  Clara saw him hiding behind the servers. She knew he wouldn't be happy with her after what she was about to do.

Clara slipped a hand around each side of the crate.

***

Aiden flinched when Clara's hand came around on his left. He backed away and too late find Clara's other hand wrapping around him. He was suddenly very aware of how bruised his body really was, he didn't even have it in him to struggle against her grip.

She'd gripped him around the waist so his arms were still free. Aiden didn't know if she'd done it on purpose or not, but he was grateful for the small freedom. He looked up at her. Clara's soft expression made him feel more at ease, she wasn't going to hurt him.

***

Clara set him down on the desk. He sat without a word and Clara just looked at him for a moment before talking.

"How are you feeling?" Aiden flopped onto his back and groaned. Clara raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not surprised you feel terrible, whatever you did had you out cold for two days."

"What?!" Aiden sat bolt upright and grunted as his gut pinched. He wrapped an arm around his middle and looked up at her. "Why didn't you wake me? I have things to do." He made to stand up.

"Not at this size you don't."Clara put a finger to his chest and pressed down lightly, forcing Aiden back into a sitting position.  "I hate to say it Aiden, but right now you're not much use to anyone. You can't even look after yourself at the moment."

***

Aiden was in a foul mood. He knew Clara was right, but to feel so useless was unbearable for him. That and the increasing frequency of her man-handling him kept reinforcing the fact he was so small, and right now, extremely fragile.

Two days. Two full days had passed since his meeting with Jordi. Aiden's gut pinched again and he groaned, holding his middle. His body needed food, but he felt as though he'd throw up if he ate anything, even so it was clear he hadn't eaten for almost three days.

Clara noticed how he was holding his middle and stood up. Aiden watched as she went back to the room where she'd dumped the supplies. He saw her rummage through one of the bags and pull out half a sandwich. She sat back down at the desk and pulled off a piece, holding it out to him.

Aiden took the proffered piece of sandwich, it was almost as big as his head! But he nodded his thanks and went about tearing pieces out of it. He surprised himself at just how much he managed to get down, a bit over half of the piece Clara had given him and he was quite full.

***

Clara was finishing what was left of her sandwich, every now and then she'd glance at Aiden. He'd made a decent effort regarding the piece of sandwich she'd given him.

She looked down at him, but his eyes were now fixed on the wall of monitors.

"Hey," She nudged him with her finger. "You okay there?"

Aiden didn't even have it in him to try and shove her finger away. Watching the screens, seeing all the city's dirty little secrets and not being able to do anything about them, he suddenly felt his height. He dropped his eyes and stared at his hands, he just felt so useless.

Clara could see the state he was in, but there wasn't really much she could do to comfort him. Then she noticed something off. Nothing about him seemed to have changed, he hadn't moved, hadn't done anything, but something _was_ different.

"Aiden, stand up."

He looked at her, a confused expression on his face. But he got up and stood before her. Clara still couldn't pin what was bothering her, then she had a thought.

"Just wait there." She stood and walked over to the mattress.

Aiden sighed, "It's not like I have much choice is it?"

Clara came back over and sat down again, she held out his coat to him. "Just, stop moping for a second okay? Put it on."

He was confused as to why she wanted him to put his coat on, but didn't argue. Aiden shrugged on his coat and froze. The sleeves covered his hands and the shoulders were loose. Panic gripped him and he stared up at Clara.

Clara's face was full of concern as she looked down at him. He'd started shaking as the realisation dawned on him and panic spread across his face. And what does Aiden do when he's panicked? Run.

She jumped as he sprinted across the desk. She'd expected him to yell, or collapse again, not for him to run towards the edge of the desk. It looked like he was in a blind panic, reverting to what kept him safe out on the streets. But in his already battered state another fall might kill him!

Clara managed to catch him just as his feet left the desk, completely enclosing him in her clasped hands. He kicked and struggled, he really wasn't going to go down without a fight. It didn't seem like he was going calm down anytime soon.

She frowned, if she let him out now there was a high chance he might do something stupid. Clara needed him to calm down, he was writhing against her palms and faint cries and cursing were being uttered from behind her fingers.

"I'm sorry Aiden." She gently pressed her palms together, stopping as soon as she felt his body go limp.

***

Aiden flipped out when Clara's hands closed around him, his little kicks and punches doing nothing to aid him. Granted he had taken a few days to happen, but the fact remained he was about half an inch smaller than when he'd first shrunk.

His mind was swamped in rage and panic, both of which doubled as Clara's palms pressed against him. Aiden's struggles increased for a moment before the air was forced from his lungs.

"Clara..."He gasped as he was once again forced into darkness.

***

Clara opened her hands and looked at him, his face was pale and his breathing was slightly labored. She was happy to see she hadn't killed him when she'd squeezed the air out of him.

 She could only imagine what this whole situation must be like for him, going from six foot tall, to five inches, and then finding out you were still getting smaller. The only thing that seemed to be in their favor was that the process was slow without it being painful.

She carried him back over to the mattress and set him down, placing his hat back over him. She sat next to the mattress for a minute trying to think of a way to help him.

She stood and went back to the desk, setting about typing furiously. She needed help with this and she was pretty sure she knew where to start.


	4. Chapter 4

"Aiden? Aiden wake up." Clara knelt down next to the mattress a few hours later. Aiden was still unconscious when she lifted his hat off him. Surprisingly he actually looked relaxed, no stress or pain on his face. For a moment she thought about just leaving him to sleep.

But she couldn't, she'd found someone who might be able to help and she'd need Aiden with her as proof of the situation. She nudged him gently but he just rolled over onto his front. Clara slipped her hand under him and lifted him off the mattress.

Aiden stirred as he was lifted, muttering something before falling back asleep. Well, even if he wouldn't wake up she still needed him with her. She slipped his small body into her jacket pocket and left the bunker.

***

Aiden awoke to the sound of a dog barking. He tried to sit up but found it difficult as the walls around him kept moving. It took him a moment to figure out he was in someone's pocket, though he couldn't be sure who it belonged to. He gave a shove on the fabric and a lot of the movement around him stopped, he was a bit nervous until he felt a soft pressure on his body and heard Clara's voice come from somewhere above him.

"Aiden? You awake?" Clara's voice was low, as though she didn't want to be overheard. Aiden assumed they had to be out in public somewhere, though it had to be somewhere pretty quiet considering the lack of background noise. He shoved again, this time pressing against her hand on the other side of the fabric. He would've called out, but knew it was unlikely for him to be heard.

***

Clara felt the tiny pressure of Aiden pressing against her palm, he was awake, but she couldn't talk to him here, she'd need to find somewhere more private. She gave her pocket a gentle pat and set off again.

She'd managed to find a lead on someone she thought might be able to help Aiden. The legendary Raymond Kenny. Though he hadn't been easy to find, the man had bounced his signal all over the world. Clara had been able to narrow it down to Pawnee, which in itself was an impressive feat. She was aware though that they were looking for a man who didn't want to be found, and therefore could be unpredictable.

Clara walked through town and made her way into the only bar. She nodded to the man behind the counter and went straight to the bathroom. She locked the cubicle door and put the lid down. Sitting, she pulled Aiden out of her pocket and placed him on her lap.

***

Aiden squinted in the bright light of the bathroom, looking up at Clara. He rolled up the sleeves on his coat and sat cross-legged on her thigh.

"So where are we?"

"We're in a bar in Pawnee, currently hiding in the ladies bathroom so I can actually talk to you.”

 Aiden gave her a confused look, then looked down. His niece, Lena, had loved Pawnee, he used to take her and Jacks fishing down at the wharf. His heart ached at the memory, knowing things would never be like that again.

Clara saw as Aiden's shoulders dropped. She also  saw that his now rolled up sleeves were too long on him. This worried her, was the rate at which he was shrinking getting faster? Clara didn't say anything, she didn't want to send him into a panic again.

"We're here cause I think there's someone who can help you."

Aiden looked up again, "Really?"

"Yes, Raymond Kenny. He's the ctOS's granddaddy. The only problem is I don't know exactly where he is. I managed to track him here but otherwise I have nothing."

"No photos or any other records?"

Clara shook her head. " He hid himself pretty well after they laid him off." They were looking for someone who they couldn't identify. Aiden sighed, well at least they had something. Aiden stood up, he noticed his sleeves were hanging off him again but managed no to panic this time.

"we should get looking."

Clara held out her hand and Aiden climbed onto it, he was less irritable than when she just picked him up. She was going to slip him back into her side pocket when he wriggled in protest. She brought him back around to her front and gave him a questioning look.

"Would you mind putting me in your breast pocket? It might be more stable." Aiden had been jostled about uncomfortably in her side pocket, and there was also less risk of him falling out if he was in her breast pocket. Clara's eyebrows raised at his request, but held him up to the opening of the pocket and let him slip inside. Once he was settled, he gave her collarbone a light shove.

***

Clara felt him press against her collarbone and took that as an okay from him to set off. She decided that since she'd come into the bar anyway, she may as well stop and let herself think for a moment. She sat down at one of the tables and pulled out her phone, she also took out Aiden's and set them side by side on the table. She ran checks through both phones, trying to find anything that would give her a more solid lead on Kenny.

It was late in the evening when she finally gave up. Clara had thought twice that she'd found something, but both had led to dead ends. She sighed and leaned back in her chair, Aiden tapped on her collarbone and she put a hand to her pocket to tell him to stay still.

She didn't once notice that a man sitting by the bar was watching her.

***

Aiden was in no mood to be shushed by Clara. His legs had started to cramp up after so long in her pocket and he desperately wanted a coffee. He stood and poked his head out of the pocket just enough so he could see where they were and what was happening. They were still in the bar. Looking at the table he saw his and Clara's phones sitting next to each other, both screens blank.

He looked out at the rest of the bar. He'd been here before, it was a small, kinda rustic joint. Nothing too out of place in a small town. Aiden's eyes swept across the bar, coming back to linger on an older man. He was just sitting there, it looked like he was staring into his drink. At least it did until someone moved, letting a bit more light fall on the man's face. He was staring at Clara. No... he was staring at Aiden!

Aiden sunk a bit lower into the pocket, the man's eyes were defiantly on him. He gave Clara a small kick with his heel, but she ignored him. She yawned and stood up, pocketing both phones she made her way out of the bar. The man's eyes followed them as they passed, still fixed on Aiden.

He breathed a small sigh of relief as they left the bar and he felt the cool autumn breeze hit his face. He slid down into Clara's pocket and closed his eyes.

***

Clara had gone round the side of the bar, she'd booked a hotel room and was headed there when she ran into someone, sending them both falling to the ground. She hurried to detangle herself from the mess of limbs, apologizing to the man. He picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off.

"'salright  miss... my bad." His voice held a tell tale slur and he smelt strongly of alcohol. He waved to Clara as he stumbled off.

Clara gave a little wave back and continued on her way to the hotel. She'd forgotten to check if Aiden was alright.

***

Aiden shouted as everything pitched forwards. He had nothing to hold onto as Clara's momentum sent him tumbling from her pocket. He found himself on the ground, trying to avoid getting hit by the huge limbs flailing about. Aiden tried to get back to Clara, but a hand came down on him, scooping him up and shoving him into another pocket. He knew he wasn't with Clara anymore. The fabric around him was coarse and the movement was rougher than when he'd been with her. He shouted, trying to let Clara know he was no longer with her, but a hand came in to the pocket and wrapped around him, muffling his shouts.

***

When Clara reached the hotel room, she instantly flopped onto the bed. She hadn't managed to get much sleep since this whole thing had started. It didn't take her long before she was fast asleep.

***

After a long trip of being stuck in the stuffy pocket, Aiden was brought out into a dimly lit room and dropped onto a hard surface. He'd just gotten to his feet when something came down over his head. He was trapped under a glass. At least this time he could see outside his prison, unlike the paper box Jordi had dumped on him. He could see his captor lurking just outside the lit area, pacing back and forth. Aiden could only stand there, watching.

"Looks like she wasn't lying..."

A pair of hands came down either side of the glass, making Aiden loose his footing, his tiny fingers clawing for purchase on the glass. He fell, his back pressed to one side of the glass, his feet pressed to the other. Aiden looked up at the man hovering over him, the face distorted by the glass.

"You better give me a good reason to help you, else I'm gonna leave you like this."

Aiden shuddered at the loudness of the man's voice, the glass made it seem even louder than it actually was, bouncing the sound around Aiden's skull. The resonance alone caused his nose to start bleeding. He'd figured that this had to be Raymond Kenny, the man Clara was looking for.

The man lifted the glass and Aiden finally got a proper look at his face. He was an older man, his graying dreadlocks hanging over his shoulders, his eyes were bright and clever. A single eyebrow was raised as he saw the blood on Aiden's face, he pulled a rag out of his back pocket and dropped it next to Aiden.

"Clean y'self up, and don't think of running off. There ain't no way down except a straight drop to a concrete floor."

Aiden used the corner of the race to wipe his face clean, then stared up at him. He had to be sure this was the right man.

"Raymond Kenny?"

The man brought his hand back down next to Aiden with a thud, Aiden swore and scooted away.

"No one's called me that in years and I'd rather not start again now." he gave Aiden a stern look, "If ya really have to address me by name, call me T-bone."

***

T-Bone looked down at the tiny man on his workbench. When he'd caught on that someone was seriously trying to find him he couldn't help but see who it was and what they wanted. He monitored one of his old contacts and was intrigued by a request for help from someone who called themselves Badboy17. He traced the message back and found a photo of a young woman.

He was surprised and impressed when he's seen the same woman sitting it the bar, even more surprised when he'd seen the tiny head that peered over the edge of her breast pocket. The woman hadn't lied about the situation, but he wasn't going to help until he found out more about the little man.

T-Bone had managed to kidnap the tiny figure with less difficulty than he'd imagined. If the woman had been more awake things would've been much harder for him.

Now here he was, staring at the tiny man on his workbench, waiting for a reason he deemed good enough for him to help out.

"well? I'm still waitin' for you to give me a reason to help you."

Aiden stood and locked eyes with T-bone.

"I need to find out why my niece died. Someone put a hit on me and she got caught in the crossfire." He took a few steps forward. "I need to know why. I can't help her or anyone in this state." His shoulders dropped and he finally noticed how his rolled up sleeves were hanging off his hands. Instead of panic at the fact he appeared to be getting smaller at a faster rate, all he felt was this overwhelming sadness.

T-bone watched and listened. There was nothing in the little guys voice or body language to say he was lying, he'd kept eye contact the whole time too. He knelt so he was at eye level with Aiden.

"What's yer name?"

***

Clara woke up in the early morning. She was still a bit groggy but got up and made a coffee to help shake the sleep from her shoulders. it was only once she was halfway through her coffee she remembered Aiden had been in her breast pocket all night. She looked to see if he was still there, but found her pocket empty. He must've climbed out while she slept.

"Aiden?" She called out, expecting him to come out of hiding somewhere, but he didn't show. Clara frowned, she stood and searched the whole hotel room, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Shit!"


	5. Chapter 5

Aiden kept an eye on T-bone's hands as the man knelt in front of him. T-bone's expression had softened just slightly, so Aiden assumed that he'd believed his story.

"Aiden Pearce." He answered.

"Well Pearce, how 'bout we start with you tellin' me how you got y'self into this state?" T-bone stood up and grabbed himself a chair, sitting back down he leaned his elbows on the table.

Aiden took a few steps back so he wouldn't have to crane his neck so much. He didn't really see much choice so he sat down on the workbench and told T-bone about how he and Clara had found and repowered the bunker, how he'd managed to get his hand jammed into a fuse-box and blacked out, all the way through to finding out he was still shrinking.

T-bone listened carefully. He was surprised to hear they'd gotten the bunker up and running again. It'd been a long time since he'd been there. He thought for a moment keeping his eyes fixed on Aiden who fidgeted under the constant stare.

"Alright Pearce, I got an idea. But first we need to find that lady friend of yours."

Aiden went rigid. Shit, Clara must've been looking for him all night! He scrambled to his feet, only to discover his coat was now starting to drag along the ground.

"Shit...."Aiden tried to keep himself calm "It's getting faster."

T-bone saw Aiden was about to have a freak-out and scooped him up in his hand.

"Now you listen here," He gave Aiden a small squeeze. "Panicking ain't gonna do you no good, so pipe down and let's get after your friend before she leaves town."

Aiden stared up at him, eyes wide, but he nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak, he was too tired and worried to even try to form words. T-bone slipped him into his shirt pocket and headed out to look for Aiden's lady friend.

***

Clara had all but torn the room apart looking for Aiden, she was starting to think she must've dropped him somewhere outside. She thought about Aiden being outside all night and it made her more determined to find him.

Clara retraced her steps from last night checking anywhere that Aiden might have been able to take refuge in. Still having no luck, she worked her way back to the bar and sat outside. She checked around the side where she'd fallen over, still nothing. Then the thought hit her, what if that drunk man she'd run into last night had found Aiden? Clara panicked again, there was no way anything good could come of that situation, but she didn't even know where to start if that was the case.

"Pardon me Miss."

***

T-bone had decided to take Aiden back to the bar, with any luck the woman would retrace her steps there and they'd be able to sort this out. He was relieved to see she had indeed returned to the bar. She was sat round the side looking rather worried and at a loss.

"Pardon me Miss...."

"Clara, her name's Clara!" Aiden called out to T-bone."

T-bone dipped his head, "Miss Clara?"

Clara was wary, how did this man know who she was? She was about to excuse herself when Aiden flung his arms over the edge of T-bone's pocket.

"Aiden?!" Clara was on her feet, she was considering just grabbing Aiden and running, but Aiden called out to her.

"Guess what? We found Raymond Kenny after all."

Clara looked at T-bone wide-eyed, he took her hand and kissed it. Aiden made a face but no one noticed. Clara was dumbstruck, she'd just met a figure of legend. Aiden watched her face, smiling as the look of surprise changed to excitement. He could relax now, they would help, he was going to be okay.

He slipped back into the pocket, he had no desire to move. He felt as though a weight had been lifted. Aiden was given a jolt when T-bone's fingers slipped in to pull him out, accompanied by the words:

"Oi, no. You're goin' back to Miss Clara. I ain't worrying about your tiny arse all the way back." He held the back of Aiden's coat between pinched forefinger and thumb and pulled him out of the pocket. Aiden felt as though his stomach had bottomed out, there was nothing beneath him, nothing between him and the ground that was so very far away. He clutched at his hugely oversized jacket, he didn't wriggle or move at all until Clara's hands came up to support him.

Aiden crumpled onto her palm, he never wanted to experience that feeling again. Clara was too relieved to see he was okay to really notice he was now three inches tall instead of five. She slipped him straight into her pocket where he fell asleep almost instantly, having been awake  and panicky all night.

***

Clara and T-bone headed back to the bunker. T-bone took a different route to her so they didn't attract any unwanted attention. Clara wanted to set Aiden down in his little nest on top of the mattress so he could rest, but T-bone arrived just as she was about to put Auden down and pointed out that Aiden didn't have much time. He'd already lost another half inch in height on the way back to the island.

They moved down to the desk and T-bone emptied his hands of the coffee he'd bought on his way there. Clara looked at Aiden's small form, he was curled up inside the folds of his coat, and was shivering slightly. T-bone leaned over and pressed the pad of his thumb to Aiden's back, the shivering body felt cold.

"I don't think he has enough body mass left to regulate his temperature. We gotta figure this out quick, else he'll  freeze to death."

Clara's worry flared up again. "We have to keep him warm, but we can't leave him in one of our pockets. It'd be dangerous if he gets any smaller."

T-bone thought for a moment."Put him on top of one of the servos, the computer's heat should be enough to keep him going."

Clara nodded and placed Aiden on one of the servos near the desk, she ran off and grabbed his hat, placing it over him again to help keep some of the heat focused on him. He wasn't going to be that comfortable, but at least he'd be alive.

T-bone put a hand on her shoulder. "We need to start somewhere, why don't you show me where you found him?"

Clara wasn't keen on leaving Aiden alone, but agreed that showing T-bone where she'd found him was a good place to start. They left the bunker and she led him to where she'd found Aiden by the train-tracks.

***

Aiden woke up on the hard surface of the servo, its warmth seeped into him, and he huddled into the folds of his coat. Something was bothering him, keeping him from falling asleep. After a few minutes he sat up, he'd figured out one of the things that was on his mind, he couldn't hear T-bone or Clara talking!

Someone had put his hat over him again so he shuffled to the opening at the back  and looked out. Clara and T-bone were nowhere to be seen. Aiden scooted as quickly as he could to the edge of the servo. He was still on the desk and sitting next to the servo was a cup. Aiden was drawn to it by the heat coming from it. The edge of the cup was close enough that he could lean over the edge without having to jump off the servo. Aiden was thrilled to find the cup contained coffee, he hadn't had one for what was it? four, five days now?

He leaned over the edge and dipped his hand in, cupping a handful of the brown liquid. He almost completely ignored the taste, almost melting as the warmth spread through his cold body. Aiden drank as much as he could before returning to his position under his hat, curling up in the huge folds of his jacket, letting the warmth granted to him by the servo and the coffee seep through him.

_~Aiden was back in the underground garage. The robot was still looming over him, it's foot raised. He braced himself, ready for what he knew was about to happen. Just as the robot brought it's foot down there was a blinding flash of light. Aiden felt something hit his head and shoulders, but noticed he hadn't been killed by the mechanoid. When the light faded he found himself looking down at the bot. He was hunched over, his back pressing against the garage roof._

_Without pausing to think, he brought his hand down on the robot, shattering it against the concrete floor.~_

***

Clara had taken T-bone to where she'd found Aiden, he was looking around the area for anything that might help. He looked up at the damaged fuse-box and thought for a moment.

"So from what we know, the shock from that box caused him to shrink..." He scratched his beard. "So what if we shocked him again? We'd have to do it from the same source just to be sure though."

Clara stared at him. "He'll die if you do that to him!"

"By rights, he should've died the first time!"

They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them had and better ideas so they headed back to the bunker to get Aiden.

***

Aiden was only half asleep when Cara and T-bone returned, he sat up and waited as he was sure he could move himself. He didn't have to wait too long before Clara lifted the hat. She looked down at him, unable to hide the worry in her face. Aiden was wrapped in the folds of his coat, his hair standing up at odd angles and a very weary look on his face. He was now just under two inches tall and was still shivering slightly.

Clara held out her hand for him to climb onto, Aiden tried to move but just fell over in his jacket. Clara frowned and gently picked up the trembling body, feeling Aiden's tiny breaths as his chest moved beneath her fingers. She thought he'd been fragile before, now he felt paper thin, like the smallest breeze would snap him in two. She wasn't going to risk putting him in her pocket so she cupped him in her hands making sure to keep him warm and away from errant drafts. Clara felt him huddle into her palm, trying to soak up her warmth.

T-bone came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ready?"

She sighed. "There are no other options are there?"

T-bone gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm afraid not. It'll either work or it won't."

"And if it doesn't, then it's most likely that he'll die." Clara felt Aiden twitch in her hand, his trembling increased as fear combined with the cold.

"Let's hurry." T-bone ushered her out of the bunker.

***

They took Aiden back out to where he'd gotten the initial shock. Clara transferred him carefully to T-bone, who set about climbing to the fuse-box. Aiden had no idea what was going on, what had they planned to do with him that could potentially lead to his death?

"T-bone?!" He shouted, "What're you doing?!"

But because of how small he, and consequentially his vocal-chords were, T-bone just couldn't hear him. Panic rose in him when he noticed where they were. Up on the side of the building with the fuse-box opposite them. Aiden's head spun as he realized how far away the ground was, his tiny fingers digging into T-bone's palm. 

T-bone felt the pressure of the tiny fingers against his skin and looked down at Aiden. The tiny man had gone incredibly pale and was quivering as he looked back up at him, fear obvious on his small face. T-bone pulled a thick rubber glove out of his back pocket and pulled it on using his teeth, Aiden's eyes widened as he figured out what T-bone was about to do.

Aiden whimpered as T-bone took him in huge, rubber-clad fingers.

"Shit T-bone! What are you doing?!"

"Sorry Pearce, but this is all we got."

With that he braced himself and pressed Aiden's tiny from into the damaged fuse-box.

Aiden screamed and writhed as the current tore through his body. Had it been this painful last time? T-bone watched with a grim expression as Aiden howled, beating his tiny balled fists against his rubber-clad fingers the pain on the little man's face horrendously obvious. Then Aiden's writhing stopped, he just crumpled over T-bones fingers. T-bone took has hand away from the fuse-box and looked at Aiden. He didn't appear to be breathing, or maybe he was just so small that T-bone could see it. He transferred Aiden to his palm and nudged at the tiny limp body with his pinkie.

"Oh no... I'm sorry Pearce..."


	6. Chapter 6

Clara watched as T-bone started his climb down to her. She'd seen the flickering of sparks and was uneasy, wanting to know if Aiden was alright. She watched as T-bone made his way down, something didn't feel right.

He came over to her and held out his hand, Aiden's tiny body laying limp in his palm. Clara held out her hands and took Aiden from T-bone, his body was still and cold. T-bone put a hand on her shoulder.

"We had to try..."

Clara nodded, though she was still upset. T-bone led her back to the bunker. They sat down by the desk, Clara still holding Aiden. What where they going to do? All the work Aiden had gone done, everything they'd been through. It all just stopped.

***

Aiden wasn't dead, though he was too small for T-bone and Clara to realise it. He'd survived the second shock from the fuse-box, but his body wouldn't respond to him. His skin itched and he felt strange, as though something had changed.

Even though his eyes were closed, he knew he'd been taken inside as the light falling on his eyelids darkened. There was silence from T-bone and Clara. He had to do something to let them know he was still alive! His hand tensed slightly, just enough to press his fingers into Clara's palm. He felt her jump at the tiny movement and hoped she realised what was going on.

Clara looked down at him. Had she imagined it, or had she actually felt him move? T-bone watched as she nudged Aiden with her finger. Maybe they'd missed something, maybe Aiden was still alive. She nudged him again and breathed a sigh of relief as Aiden shifted slightly.

"Oh thank god..." She pressed the pad of her thumb gently against his back and rubbed his shoulders. "We thought we'd lost you."

Aiden shifted again, finally gaining some proper control over his limbs. He managed to roll himself over, causing his body to ache horribly. He lay in her palm, eyes closed, just enjoying the fact that he was okay and they knew it. Though he did make a mental note to punch T-bone if he managed to get back to his own size.

***

It didn't take the three of them too long to notice a change in Aiden. By early evening he fitted into his coat again. Aiden was so happy to be changing size and not be getting smaller!

He stood on the desk in the bunker, thrilled with the fact his sleeves were the right length again. He was also happy that he was big enough for Clara to hand him a bottle cap full of coffee. Screw any indignity, it was nice to have proper coffee again.

The fact Aiden had stopped shrinking and was potentially returning to normal lifted everyone's mood. T-bone had even fixed the bunker's speaker system so they were able to play music.

The only thing that happened to offend their brighter mood was when Aiden received another phone call from Jordi. T-bone and Clara left to give him some privacy. Jordi's voice was as loud and cheery as usual.

"Hey Pearce, how's my little man doing?"

"What now Jordi?" Aiden wasn't even trying to hide the irritation in his voice.

"Wow, guessing you're still having height issues then. But seriously, you think you'll be coming back to work soon? Our mutual friend isn't gonna stay here forever."

"I'll be back soon Jordi, okay? Just, I'll call you when I'm back." Though Aiden didn't know if he would be back, but he didn't let that fear taint his voice.

"alright, fine. You let me know though." Jordi figured he wasn't going to get much out of Aiden so he hung up.

Aiden kicked as his phone, Jordi was going to hold this over him forever. The amount of short jokes Aiden guessed Jordi could come up with was a near impossible number. He sighed, he'd deal with Jordi later. Aiden looked around to see where T-bone and Clara had gone off to.

***

Clara and T-bone were up in one of the small servo rooms. Neither of them really wanted to let Aiden out of their sight so they chose a room with a window overlooking the main floor. Aiden appeared to have finished his phone call, and he didn't seem to happy.

T-bone watched the little man wander around the desk.

"Why don't you keep 'im like that? Surely it would halve the trouble he gets in. I mean, everyone's seen the shit about the 'Vigilante' on the news. If he stays like this you can keep him out of all that."

Clara shook her head.

"You've met him. You think he won't find other ways to get into trouble? And he won't rest until he's finished what he's started. And I don't think even this could stop him."

She looked out the window at Aiden.

"what is he doing?"

T-bone followed her gaze. Aiden was trying to wrangle one of the keyboards. He was too short to reach all the keys, and he was too big to jump onto them. Still he had managed to put big white letters up on the wall of monitors that read:

'WHERE YOU AT?'

T-bone laughed.

"I see what you mean. He's his own brand of stubborn."

***

Aiden was pacing around the desk again. He was restless, Jordi's call had reminded him of all the work he still had to do. He muttered and swore at Jordi under his breath. Why now? Why had Jordi have to call now? Just when things had been even slightly happy for once.

His head ached and he just wanted things to be back to the way they were. No, his life wasn't perfect, but it was better than being five inches tall and stuck on a desk. Aiden was suddenly extremely annoyed. Why wasn't he back at his own height? What hadn't happened this time that had the first time? He kept pacing and thought about it.

When he'd shrunk, he'd gotten the shock and fallen off the fire escape. Was that was had to happen, did he have to fall? Or maybe just fall unconscious...?

Clara and T-bone had rejoined him, Clara frowning at Aiden as he paced around the desk.

"what're you planning?"

Aiden looked up at her and put on his most innocent expression. He didn't think Clara would approve of him trying to knock himself out.

"Nothing, just thinking. Can I talk to T-bone for a minute?"

Clara narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't press him for the truth. "Fine, but don't you two go planning anything stupid."

She walked off again, leaving the boys to talk. T-bone sat himself down in a chair and leaned his elbows on the table, looking down at Aiden.  The little man took a few steps back, he didn't like it when people hovered over him like that, it put him in a position of weakness. He knew T-bone probably hadn't meant to do that to him, but that didn't change the feeling.

T-bone reached down and poked Aiden in the chest.

"So, what is it you don't want the lady finding out about? Or am I just that pretty?"

Aiden made a face at him then got straight to the point.

"I need you to knock me out."

A pair of eyebrows rose as T-bone shot Aiden a questioning look, and Aiden got to explaining why.

"Last time the change seemed pretty instantaneous, this time it's not. The only thing I can find different about the two scenarios is that the first time I fell unconscious and smacked my head."

T-bone thought for a moment. Aiden was right, it would be best to replicate the first incident as closely as possible. T-bone frowned as he thought about how they should do this, he couldn't knock Aiden off the desk as his bones would probably break against the concrete floor. And he couldn't just squeeze the air out of him until he passed out because he had to make sure Aiden hit his head. So he came to the best conclusion he could out o a range of generally bad ideas.

"Alright Pearce. We gotta do this quick, before Clara comes back. Cause there ain't no way she'll let me knock you out."

He reached out again and prodded Aiden in the middle a few times, seeing how much force he'd need to knock the little man out without breaking or killing him. Aiden protested loudly at this as T-bone hadn't told him what he was planning. T-bone pulled his hand away and nodded at Aiden.

"You ready?"

"No." Aiden looked a bit nervous, T-bone already had a plan and it didn't seem like he was going to share it.

"Deal with it princess. "

He took Aiden in his hand and set him down on the floor, that way, by any chance this idea worked and he changed back to his normal size, he wouldn't break anything on the desk. He stayed crouched as Aiden looked up at him.

"Turn around." T-bone instructed him.

Aiden turned on the spot, looking up at the wall of monitors. T-bone looked at Aiden, the little man in the battered leather coat , his hair faded in some parts. How much shit had this man gotten himself into before this? T-bone shook his head and focused on the task at hand.

He brought his hand up behind Aiden slowly, not wanting to give Aiden a chance to brace himself, then flicked the little man in the back of the head. Aiden's body jerked forwards, his eyes widened before rolling back into his head and he crumpled forwards onto the floor.

T-bone quickly checked that Aiden was still breathing, but had to step back. He didn't even see it happen, one second Aiden was on the floor, a perfect miniature of himself, next, he was sprawled out in front of T-bone at his full height. T-bone gave a small laugh of relief and nudged Aiden in the ribs with his boot, Aiden twitched but didn't wake up.

T-bone slipped his arms under Aiden's and hauled him upright, then dragged him over to the mattress in the corner.

"You were easier to move before..." He grunted, unceremoniously dumping Aiden onto the mattress. He rolled Aiden onto his back and put the man's cap over his face to keep the light out, Aiden would need as much rest as he could get.

***

Clara came back a little while later, she'd gone out and gotten coffee. She walked into the bunker and headed down to T-bone, who was leaning back in his chair with his feet on the desk. She put the coffee down in front of him and scanned the desk for Aiden.

"So, what did he want, and where did he go?"

"He's over there," T-bone nodded towards the mattress in the corner where Aiden was sprawled out. "Though I wouldn't wake him, his head is going to be killing him when he wakes up."

Clara stared at Aiden, then turned back to T-bone.

"When?"

"About ten minutes ago." He looked at Clara. "And between you and me, I think some sleep sounds like a good idea." T-bone pointed to another mattress across the room. "You've been so worried about him. Just take some time to rest 'kay?"

***

Aiden woke to darkness, his head pounding. He rolled over and his hat fell off his face, he stared at it. It had worked? Or was he just dreaming? Aiden sat up slowly and looked around. He was on the mattress again, except this time everything was at normal scale. T-bone was asleep at the desk  and Clara was over on the other side of the bunker curled up on another mattress.

He swung his legs off the mattress and smiled. Everything would be swinging back to normal, and he'd be able to find out why his niece had died.

Clara rolled over and opened her eyes, she spotted Aiden sitting up and smiled. He smiled back at her, then they both laughed as T-bone fell off his chair, looking around wildly as he woke with a start.

Aiden smirked, looking at his little band of misfits.


End file.
